2018-07-10Ollon Villars
8Th Historic HillclimbDear Friends, we give you an appointment in the 2nd half of August 2020 for the 8th edition...

The exact date will be communicated as soon as the 2020 event calendar is known.Visuel 2020

2018-01-07Was it the call of the revered mountain climb, a mechanical dream in the foothills of the Alps or the reputation of a great event with a fantastic social atmosphere?Once again the Ollon-Villars Retrospective met with great success. With picture postcard weather, more than 1200 climbs in front of an audience of 8000 enthusiasts and an atmosphere of conviviality the success of the event was assured. Participants and spectators enjoyed a chance to relive the atmosphere of this magnificent and prestigious hill climb. Up until 1971 the Ollon Villars hill was feted as one of the most challenging of the European Championship!
Ollon Villars 2017 proudly presented over 300 racing machines reminiscent of a time of European racing. The Ferguson F1 car of the record of 1963 by Jo Bonnier and the Tecno F2 of the absolute record by François Cevert in 1971 were back. Talking of the of Tecno marque, three F2 factory cars were present: Ex Cevert, Regazzoni and Peterson. These cars have not been seen together for many a long year.
The 2017 edition brought together an abundance of World Champions. Two and three wheel champions such as Phil Read, Freddie Spencer, Rolf Biland and Kurt Waltisperg. Four wheel legends such as Mr. Le Mans himself, Henri Pescarolo, the Belgian champion Christine Berkers and exceptional machines from Switzerland, European countries and once again the presence of Team Historic Ecosse ...
Other participants of note included the presence of Team Abarth from Mr Möll and Burgol Racing Technologie, to name some of the best known inSwitzerland. And what about the "Helvetian specialty" - these gentlemen pilots of Sidecars accompanied by their monkey, probably the favorites of the public.Demonstrating the world wide appeal, and saying a lot about the reputation that Ollon Villars has both at the time of the European Hill Climb Championship and in the later Retrospective iterations, the 2017 edition drew participants from as far as USA, New Zealand and China to enjoy the occasion!

The DVD produced during the event will be available in February and some Warson Polo shirts "Herbert Mueller" will be available soon at the Droguerie Pharmacy Ollon or order by mail.
The exact dates for the next edition is not yet fixed and all being well it will run on schedule in 2020. Rest assured we will not fail to inform you.
Thank you ladies and gentlemen, participants, spectators and of course the many volunteers who made the event possible for coming to Ollon Villars!
Ollon-Villars Retrospective Organising Team

2017-07-28The entrants list is now available on line.The organising committee are extremely proud to have attracted a dream line up of rare and interesting vehicles for the 7th running in 2017.

The record breaking cars from 1963 and 1971. Exceptional entries which in period raced in the F1, F2, F3 and F5000, Prototypes, Saloons, Grand Prix motorcycles and sidecar classes. This year we have a truly worldwide entry with vehicles and drivers from all over Europe and also coming from as far as China and New Zealand - all coming to drive the fabulous Ollon-Villars hill climb.

And the drivers. We have 4 world champions. Fast Freddie Spencer returns again and this year we also welcome, from a slightly earlier period, Phil Read. We are also pleased once again to welcome Rolf Biland and Kurt Waltlisberg.

To find out more and get the Practical Guide to Ollon-Villars follow the Information link below.

2017-05-31Preparations well under wayThe preparations for the 2017 Ollon-Villars Retrospective are now well under way.

The event is becoming a true meeting place for former motor cycling world champions - Rolf Biland and Kurt Waltisberg, Phil Read and Fast Freddie Spencer will all be coming.

We expect a similar quality of visitors from the world of cars and sports cars as well.

All proposed participants please note that entry forms and other documentation will be available very shortly. Thanks for your patience.

We all look forward to welcoming you in August.

The organising team.

2017-02-07Everyone who came said the weekend of September 14th and 15th 2013 was a great success. There were simply so many interesting vehicles present - including the actual cars which set the hill record in 1963 and 1971!A knowledgeable crowd (between 6,000 and 8,000 spectators) greeted great champions like Freddie Spencer, triple world 500cc motorcycle champion, and Rolf Biland & Kurt Waltisperg, 6 times world sidecar champions. In the cars, of particular note was the appearance of Erik Comas, former F1 driver in the Lancia Stratos with which he had just won the 2013 Tour Auto – an aural pleasure if ever there was one.

It was back on the 15th and 16th August 1953 when the first running of the competitive hill climb at Ollon-Villars took place and the event then ran through until 1971. For the most part it was a round of the European Hill Climb Championship, attracting factory entries from the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and others. The running of the 2013 event celebrated the 60th anniversary of the inaugural 1953 event. With many cars and bikes from that period present.

The 2013 running of the Ollon-Villars Retrospective saw the return of Abarth, Lotus or Porsche prototypes, as well as the sophisticated Cooper, Brabham and Tecno single seaters. Vintage Amilcar C6 and Bugattis were demonstrated as well as over 80 GT or saloon competition cars from the period.
Proceedings got off to a particularly sunny Saturday start which, set against the magnificent backdrop of a panoramic view of the Alps, offered a magnificent chance for the drivers of the 200 cars, 80 motorcycles and 15 sidecars to celebrate the legendary Ollon-Villars race. On the Sunday, despite a few showers, the weather was not bad enough to prevent the drivers repeating the spectacle.

But let us return to the glory days and the champions of 1963 and 1971:

The Ferguson P99, won the record at Ollon-Villars in 1963 in 4mins 23.0secs with Swedish champion Jo Bonnier at the wheel. Stuart Rolt, son of the former team co-owner Tony Rolt and, current owner of the car, tells us about it 50 years later, “It was at the wheel of this unique machine that Sir Stirling Moss won the only F1 race to be won by a four-wheel drive car at the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 1961”. Stuart continued: "My father, Tony Rolt, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1953 with Jaguar. In 1961, while working for Harry Ferguson Research Limited with Harry Ferguson and Freddie Dixon, he convinced them to embark on a project to build a four-wheel drive F1 car. In 1963, I accompanied my father to Ollon-Villars to support Jo Bonnier”.

The Tecno F2, thanks to the mastery and driving skill of the charismatic French champion François Cevert, definitively set the time for climbing the hill of Ollon-Villars stopping the clocks with a fantastic time of 3mins 47.04secs. The 2013 event marks the 40th anniversary of Francois Cevert's tragic passing during qualifying for the US Grand Prix on 6 October 1973 at Watkins Glen. This beautiful Italian car comes back to us from it's country of origin, presented by Mr. Giuseppe Bianchini.

There were additional bonuses in 2013 such as the appearance of the two singing V12 Matras! The 1970 MS650 sports car driven by Pierre Ragey and the 1968 MS11 Formula 1 car driven by Patrice Launay. M. Humbert and his friends had travelled from Romorantin-Lanthenay in central France.

As mentioned previously motorcyclists were also welcome and together they presented a fantastic array of machinery. Superb machines and many famous riders were present. These included such stars as the very friendly and spectacular “Fast” Freddie Spencer riding one of the factory Hondas he rode with such great success. His mount had been made available by a collector who brought the motorcycle from Belgium. Rolf Biland the multiple world champion showed his talent with his usual teammate Kurt Waltisperg on their fantastically prepared sidecar outfit. Also along for the ride was the Finn Teuvo Länsivuori, second to Giacomo Agostini in the 1973 350cc world championship and to Dieter Braun in the 250cc class. In 1976 Teuvo also came very close again to a world title finishing second to Barry Sheene in the 350cc class.

Jean-Claude Castela, record holder for the last two editions of Ollon-Villars, was riding his AJS, and Roland Freymond (winning the Swedish GP in 1982) was at the helm of one of his GP Hondas.

The weekend can be described as very successful since, remember in Switzerland, circuit racing is prohibited since the tragedy of Le Mans in 1955. It reflects so well on the organization that the simple mention of the name “Ollon-Villars” immediately transports us back to the glory days of the 1970's – days when history mingled with passion – days when brands such as Ferrari or Porsche fought to win the European Championship of the Mountain with their best drivers.
For a retrospective, to gather such a magnificent entry, without a competitive element ... "Only for the pleasure of revisiting the memory of the atmosphere of races towards the end of the 70s", attracting people from more than 10 nations all of whom had made the nostalgic return to Switzerland. Also present, but incognito, were such luminaries as Jacques Villeneuve and Paul Stewart ... such is the draw of "Ollon-Villars"

A small village like Ollon, completely open to the public, transformed into a paddock, and the even smaller village of Villars which gathers all the participants on arrival at the summit ...
Places where one can converse freely with drivers, riders, owners and mechanics of a time that nobody has forgotten. Chat with spectators who attended or participated in the original events, listening to their anecdotes and other fairy stories ...This is the magic of Ollon-Villars and it will all be repeated over the last weekend of August 2017. We cannot wait………...

2017-02-07Everyone who came said the weekend of September 14th and 15th 2017 was a great success. There were simply so many interesting vehicles present - including the actual cars which set the hill record in 1963 and 1971!A knowledgeable crowd (between 6,000 and 8,000 spectators) greeted great champions like Freddie Spencer, triple world 500cc motorcycle champion, and Rolf Biland & Kurt Waltisperg, 6 times world sidecar champions. In the cars, of particular note was the appearance of Erik Comas, former F1 driver in the Lancia Stratos with which he had just won the 2013 Tour Auto – an aural pleasure if ever there was one.

It was back on the 15th and 16th August 1953 when the first running of the competitive hill climb at Ollon-Villars took place and the event then ran through until 1971. For the most part it was a round of the European Hill Climb Championship, attracting factory entries from the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and others. The running of the 2013 event celebrated the 60th anniversary of the inaugural 1953 event. With many cars and bikes from that period present.

The 2013 running of the Ollon-Villars Retrospective saw the return of Abarth, Lotus or Porsche prototypes, as well as the sophisticated Cooper, Brabham and Tecno single seaters. Vintage Amilcar C6 and Bugattis were demonstrated as well as over 80 GT or saloon competition cars from the period.
Proceedings got off to a particularly sunny Saturday start which, set against the magnificent backdrop of a panoramic view of the Alps, offered a magnificent chance for the drivers of the 200 cars, 80 motorcycles and 15 sidecars to celebrate the legendary Ollon-Villars race. On the Sunday, despite a few showers, the weather was not bad enough to prevent the drivers repeating the spectacle.

But let us return to the glory days and the champions of 1963 and 1971:

The Ferguson P99, won the record at Ollon-Villars in 1963 in 4mins 23.0secs with Swedish champion Jo Bonnier at the wheel. Stuart Rolt, son of the former team co-owner Tony Rolt and, current owner of the car, tells us about it 50 years later, “It was at the wheel of this unique machine that Sir Stirling Moss won the only F1 race to be won by a four-wheel drive car at the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 1961”. Stuart continued: "My father, Tony Rolt, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1953 with Jaguar. In 1961, while working for Harry Ferguson Research Limited with Harry Ferguson and Freddie Dixon, he convinced them to embark on a project to build a four-wheel drive F1 car. In 1963, I accompanied my father to Ollon-Villars to support Jo Bonnier”.

The Tecno F2, thanks to the mastery and driving skill of the charismatic French champion François Cevert, definitively set the time for climbing the hill of Ollon-Villars stopping the clocks with a fantastic time of 3mins 47.04secs. The 2013 event marks the 40th anniversary of Francois Cevert's tragic passing during qualifying for the US Grand Prix on 6 October 1973 at Watkins Glen. This beautiful Italian car comes back to us from it's country of origin, presented by Mr. Giuseppe Bianchini.

There were additional bonuses in 2013 such as the appearance of the two singing V12 Matras! The 1970 MS650 sports car driven by Pierre Ragey and the 1968 MS11 Formula 1 car driven by Patrice Launay. M. Humbert and his friends had travelled from Romorantin-Lanthenay in central France.

As mentioned previously motorcyclists were also welcome and together they presented a fantastic array of machinery. Superb machines and many famous riders were present. These included such stars as the very friendly and spectacular “Fast” Freddie Spencer riding one of the factory Hondas he rode with such great success. His mount had been made available by a collector who brought the motorcycle from Belgium. Rolf Biland the multiple world champion showed his talent with his usual teammate Kurt Waltisperg on their fantastically prepared sidecar outfit. Also along for the ride was the Finn Teuvo Länsivuori, second to Giacomo Agostini in the 1973 350cc world championship and to Dieter Braun in the 250cc class. In 1976 Teuvo also came very close again to a world title finishing second to Barry Sheene in the 350cc class.

Jean-Claude Castela, record holder for the last two editions of Ollon-Villars, was riding his AJS, and Roland Freymond (winning the Swedish GP in 1982) was at the helm of one of his GP Hondas.

The weekend can be described as very successful since, remember in Switzerland, circuit racing is prohibited since the tragedy of Le Mans in 1955. It reflects so well on the organization that the simple mention of the name “Ollon-Villars” immediately transports us back to the glory days of the 1970's – days when history mingled with passion – days when brands such as Ferrari or Porsche fought to win the European Championship of the Mountain with their best drivers.
For a retrospective, to gather such a magnificent entry, without a competitive element ... "Only for the pleasure of revisiting the memory of the atmosphere of races towards the end of the 70s", attracting people from more than 10 nations all of whom had made the nostalgic return to Switzerland. Also present, but incognito, were such luminaries as Jacques Villeneuve and Paul Stewart ... such is the draw of "Ollon-Villars"

A small village like Ollon, completely open to the public, transformed into a paddock, and the even smaller village of Villars which gathers all the participants on arrival at the summit ...
Places where one can converse freely with drivers, riders, owners and mechanics of a time that nobody has forgotten. Chat with spectators who attended or participated in the original events, listening to their anecdotes and other fairy stories ...This is the magic of Ollon-Villars and it will all be repeated over the last weekend of August 2017. We cannot wait………...

2016-01-10The next edition is scheduled on 26 & 27 August 2017!
Road repairs make us shift the next organization.The road between Chesières and Huémoz will be wider and brand new ... Then ...
How about a high octane weekend break in the mountains?
Fresh air, the ‘Dents du Midi’ and Mont Blanc in the background, a healthy mix of classics and an opportunity to drive one of the magical hills from the past…

2013-07-29Road Ollon to Villars closedRoad side Ollon Villars will be closed, Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 september from 9:30 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 17:00

2013-06-11This year the 6th Ollon-Villars Retrospective offers the chance to see two very rare and unique record breaking cars from 1963 and 1971 in action!!

For the 1963 Ollon-Villars hill climb the Swedish driver Jo Bonnier brought a Ferguson P99 and set a time of 4m 23.0secs. This was the only four wheel drive Formula 1 car ever built. It was driven by Sir Stirling Moss to, what was to prove to be, the last victory for a front engine Formula 1 car in 1961 at Oulton Park, Cheshire, England. We are delighted to welcome Mr Stuart Rolt from England with this exceedingly unusual and interesting car. Mr Rolt said

“My father, Tony Rolt, won the Le Mans 24 hour race in 1953 with Jaguar. In 1961, whilst working for Harry Ferguson Research Limited with Harry Ferguson and Freddie Dixon, he convinced them that there was merit in the company embarking on a project to build a four wheel drive F1 car. The company were pioneers in producing four wheel drive systems for racing and road use. The research and development work from this project was continued through the Sixties and Ferguson four wheel drive systems were used by Matra, Lotus and McLaren in their F1 cars in 1969. The 1971 Lotus 56B gas turbine powered F1 car also used the system. The work also allowed a collaboration with Jensen in producing the Jensen FF, a road going Grand Tourer. This work preceded the systems of Audi and Subaru by some years.
In 1963 I accompanied my father to Ollon-Villars to provide support to Jo Bonnier. I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring the car back for the 6th Ollon-Villars retrospective.”

Before becoming the team mate to Jackie Stewart at Tyrell the name of the French F2 and F3 world champion Francois Cevert was synonymous with the Tecno F2 car. In 1971 Francois brought one of these single-seaters to Ollon-Villars. On this famous hill he stopped the clocks at 3m 47.04s – the fastest time ever achieved and one which has never since been beaten. It is now 40 years since the tragic accident which claimed the life of this hugely talented Frenchman during practice for the 1973 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. We are extremely grateful that this year Mr. Guiseppe Bianchini will bring back one of these beautiful Italian machines to Ollon-Villars. This will provide us with an excellent opportunity to celebrate the life of this charismatic Frenchman.

2013-03-19We are very pleased to announce that once again we will be welcoming the famous Historic Ecosse team to our event.Ever since the Ollon-Villars Retrospective began Historic Ecosse have been represented at the event. We are very pleased to welcome them back again and this year they will bring with them over ten particularly interesting single seater and Formula Junior cars. Badge Historic Ecosse

2013-02-05Amendment to entry packageAs in previous years the entry fees include one ticket for the meal on the Saturday evening.
Additional meals are available on request and will be charged as stated in the information pages.

As places at both meals are limited pleae note that ALL seats, at both Ollon and Villars, MUST be reserved through the organising team.

2012-12-06Volunteers required - come and help us - there is plenty to do!If you love the mountains of Switzerland and the quality entry of classic vehicles we always attract then we need you!